As summer turns to fall and Cross Country season goes into full swing, a perennial error shows itself once again: mistaking the sport for another running-oriented sport, Track and Field. Despite or perhaps because of the two occuring during completely different times of the year, runners from both sports all too often hear the names of their sports used interchangeably, when in reality, the two are distinctly different.
“Most of the time, people either think Track and Cross Country are the same thing or mix up which season is which,” says Kristin Dent, a Bowling Green High School senior who competes in both sports.
The main differences, Kristin explains, boil down into two simple concepts. “Track is primarily shorter distance and has many different events, while Cross Country is longer distance and a single event.”
Track runners compete in shorter distances than they would in Cross Country, with events ranging from the 100 meter dash to a 2 mile run, along with various relay races, also unique to Track. Cross Country races, meanwhile, are always 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles, long. Unlike Cross Country, Track also encompasses non-running events, such as throwing and hurdles.
For Cross Country races, terrain can vary between trails, usually consisting of grass, gravel, dirt, or some combination of the three. Dozens or hundreds of students compete at a time, only separated by age and gender. Conversely, Track courses consist of a 400 meter loop split into six to eight running lanes. If more than six to eight runners compete in an event, the race will have multiple rounds, or heats, of the same event.
By Abby Adams-Smith